Menu

There’s a lot of juicing going on this time of year. It’s probably due to New Year’s resolutions and all the accompanying cleansing regimens on the market. While I’m not doing any fasting or cleansing, I am immersed in juicing.

I’ve had my juicer for over a year now, and I didn’t really use it on a regular basis until recently. I had trouble deciding if it was really a good idea to strip most of the fiber out of my food. After all, I don’t have trouble digesting fiber or raw vegetables and fruits. And then one morning I made a green lemon juice. I imagined my body being bathed in a shot of alkalizing green goodness. The brilliant green tart sweet liquid was a welcome wake-up.

So I’m totally hooked on juicing greens for a morning boost and as a regular attempt to pry as many nutrients into my blood stream as possible. Green juice does that and it’s goes great with a morning muffin or an afternoon snack.

The recipe in this post is my simple go-to green juice. I try to have one of each of these ingredient groups on hand at the same time to complete the recipe:

small bunch of greens (usually kale, spinach, parsley, or a mixture of super food salad greens)

one juicable sweet fruit (apple or pear)

one lemon or lime

Usually it’s about 4 big kale stalks, 1/2 a lemon or lime, and an apple or pear. You can probabaly add on a bunch of your favorite veggies and fruits, but for simplicity’s sake, I usually go with this recipe.

My juicer is the Breville Juice Fountain Multi-Speed—a good middle-of-the road juicer that adjusts to a variety of veggies and fruits. I use the same setting all the time, but it’s nice to know it’s adjustable. My favorite part about this juicer is that it’s easy to clean. I just make sure to rinse the washable parts with warm soap water soon after I make the juice. There are tons of juicer reviews online, so do a bit of research before you invest.

If you’re not sure about making this investment, try blending first. Here’s a green juice recipe to try. You can blend the ingredients in this recipe with some additional water, and then strain out the large pieces. This will give you a pretty good idea of what drinking just the juice portion is all about. The nice thing about juicing versus blending is that the juice is more readily digestable, which is a big plus for folks who have any kind of digestive impairment. You may want to avoid the tartness of the lemon and lime initially to avoid irritating your digestive system if you’re experiencing any discomfort or sensitivity.

I also recommend using organic veggies and fruits for juicing since you’re adding almost the whole enchilada, including the skin in most cases. I say almost because there are a few things I do to remove bitterness from my green juice:

cut out the apple core, which contains the bitter seeds (the seeds contain a small amount of cyanide compound)

peel the yellow skin off of the lemon, which is often bitter (except when using Meyer lemons), or zest it with a microplane zester and save the zest for another recipe (seal and store it in the refrigerator for a week or so)

Simple Green Juice

If you’re pressed for time in the morning, make the juice the night before and give it a shake the next morning. While it’s best when freshly made, it’s still a great nutritional boost the next morning. Sometimes I make a bigger batch and sip it throughout the day. If you’re finding this is a bit too tart, reduce the lemon to just 1/4 or add another small apple or pear.

Ingredients

1 small bunch of kale (about 4 large stalks; I use Dino kale)

1 large apple or pear, cut up (remove small core with seeds)

1/2 of a lemon or lime (peel the lemon’s yellow skin unless it’s a Meyer lemon or other mild lemon; I don’t peel the lime)

This looks delicious! I love to juice greens, particularly kale and arugula. I’ve found that the arugula and apple compliment each other quite nicely. Juicing is an important part of my life and I hope that others will begin to incorporate it into their daily lives as well!

Thanks for all your wonderful recipes and health info. I so look forward to your latest post.

I enjoy juicing though I don’t do it everyday. I add carrots, beets including beet leaves,spinach and celery as well as kale & also parsley. It’s heaven in a glass! One does feel fantastic sort of nice and clean inside and I can just hear my body say AHHH this feels good!

I use an Oscar Neo DA 1000 Ultem Tough Juicer – a cold process juicer ie w/o heat for squeezing the fruit/veg. It’s a lot slower but the pulp comes out quite dry and the juice is stronger and doesn’t separate ie separated water & fibre content.
I also use the pulp in omelettes, stir-frys etc. Celery does come out a bit dry, stringy and clumpy but can be easily removed if desired.
Happy juicing to all whatever the juicer chosen.
Kathleen
Sydney Australia

Thanks! Yes, there are much more efficient juicers on the market than my model of Breville, and they tend to extract more juice, albeit a bit more slowly. It seems worth it though if you juice often enough and can spend the extra money for it.

I am considering adding some mint and ginger to my next round. Today I made grapefruit, apple, and kale, but then later added lemon because it was missing a zing. I bet the ginger will provide a zing, and it certainly is a great immune booster. Thanks!

I am mad about juicing – just published my 2nd book on the topic and started a Greenterest juicing board on Pinterest so I pinned one of your top photos here with link to you of course …. Juice on everyone!! It’s the *BEST* thing for your health AND skin (esp us ladies :))